


The Ring Necklace

by In_Crime_Partner



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 4+1, Angst, Broken Hearts, Engagement Rings, Exes, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt, So much angst, olicity - Freeform, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 20:42:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11813823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Crime_Partner/pseuds/In_Crime_Partner
Summary: After their broken engagement, when Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak's hearts are full of pain, Felicity sees the ring as a necklace around his neck four times. Four times she only watches and mourns and then there's the one time she gets the ring back where it belongs.4+1 AU.





	The Ring Necklace

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys :)
> 
> Back with the second update this week. Good news, one more is coming tomorrow! ^^ I really enjoyed writing this one and during certain scenes I had to fight back the tears. BUt maybe that's just me, because I'm an over-emotional person :P
> 
> I just want to make something clear before you head into this story: I don't blame Felicity for Havenrock but since she did blame herself, that narrative shows that.
> 
> Okay, that's it. :) Drop me a line of what you thought at the end and Enjoy!! :) <3

**01.**

 

The first time Felicity saw the ring on a necklace dangling around his neck, it was just the two of them in the bunker after a night of light patrol. Diggle was back in the military, Thea hang up the hood for good - not that she could blame her - and Curtis was focusing on his relationship with Paul and his work. In all honesty, Felicity wanted to take a break too, maybe for a few weeks at first then, just like her almost sister-in-law, leave behind the vigilating forever. The problem for her were the nightmares Havenrock caused.

It was her fault. She deserved those nightmares.

Digg of course would shake his head now and disagree while Oliver would tell her the reasons why it was only Darhk's fault. But they couldn't. For one, Digg wasn't in the city. And for two, she and Oliver didn't have that kind of relationship or friendship anymore and he had no idea. Even if he had, he never voiced it.

Which meant the nightmares led the path to guilt island that couldn't let her sleep, rest or close her eyes for five minutes without the names of the deceased people, every women, men and children she killed screaming in her head seconds before the bomb destroyed everything. Pets, babies, pregnant women, soon-to-be fathers and grandfathers. Houses, churches, schools, cars. All gone. With a few keystrokes she did. 

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying her best to ignore the images she had seen on the internet floating around. Felicity wouldn't have been herself if she she didn't look, didn't search the people who had died that day. Without attempt, she memorised the names of the citizens who lived happily once in Havenrock, memorised events like the wedding that was taking place when their fates were decided and so on.

It was when she reopened her eyes that she saw him taking off the green arrow jacket and reveal something she hadn't seen in weeks. Around his neck on a chain glimmered the ring as the lights from the ceiling hit its edges. The ring she was supposed to be wearing until their wedding day. The ring she barely had the chance to wear. The ring that reminded her of the happiest days of her life, when she thought she was the luckiest person. The ring she had given back because he lied to her.

He lied to her without a second thought and broke the connection they shared to small, tiny pieces never to be put together. 

Tears attacked her vision, her gaze unable to move from the shining piece of jewelry that once rested on her finger, the surroundings blacking out as her focus stayed solely on the ring. Felicity took a deep breath, feeling a sob building up in her throat, her hand clutching the other where that promise should be, where it had been once, as a tremor rocked her body.

Heart heavy with pain, she pulled her clutched hand to her chest, the wounds too fresh to bear the sudden roar of her emotions. Without thought, she grabbed her phone and keys, bid a quick goodbye and stormed away from the lair to lick her wounds at home and strengthen the bleeding gashes on her soul.

And when Oliver called with worry later that night, she made up a ridiculous excuse, not mentioning the ring, the pain, the tears or the memories assaulting her mind as she sat in front of the fireplace, watching the fire sparkle like months ago. Except back then, she had her grumpy vigilante cuddling her as they shared their green blanket.

* * *

**02.**

 

The second time Felicity caught sight of the ring they were drunk and alone in the lair again. Curtis set them up with takeout food and wine in hope they would reconcile, saying they were still ridiculously in love with each other. He should know, but love had never been their problem. It was the secrets and lies Oliver kept to himself, something she couldn't figure out why he did. Even with her IQ higher than 170, she couldn't for life understand him.

So, after drinking two bottles of wine, Felicity ended up on the Salmon Ladder, trying to copy Oliver but failing. Part of her was holding back because she knew he would show her how to do it correctly when she failed the first time, and that meant watching his muscles work in full time like back in the good old days when she was his girl and the original team kicked asses. It was probably unhealthy but as she watched him move himself up the ladder she couldn't care less.

Ever since their break up, Oliver barely worked out in front of her, especially on the Salmon Ladder and without a shirt. She was certain it was because he was trying to respect her wish for space and not seem like he was tempting her, but she missed seeing him all sweaty and worked up after a round of heavy workout. It was selfish in more than one ways, but she would fight off those fantasies soon. Until then, she would enjoy what she got, aka Oliver showing and explaining how to get herself higher with the bar.

Everything felt both good and painful. But pain she deserved. 

He was also touching her. Something he hadn't done in weeks if not months. His hands lit a trail of fire on her skin as he helped her down from the ladder after her second and final failed attempt. His fingers were wrapped around her hips, he wasn't even touching her fully as clothes covered her heated flesh, but his effects on her were the same. Her body was missing him. His body was her body's drug she hadn't gotten in a long time. She had been addicted to him like he had been to her.

And the withdrawals came with longings and aches.

After the two hours they spent together, she wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol or her simply missing him that had her walk up to him and place a kiss on his lips. Probably a mixed reaction.

One kiss turned to more and soon, clothes were flying around, their bodies meeting and mating in a well-known dance. Sweat marred both of their skins, sighs and moans of pleasure escaping their mouths, their minds destroying the walls they built over the months as their hearts sang for each other. With intertwined fingers and a close embrace they fell over the edge to reach a bliss they couldn't find since their separation, their bodies and souls content after the never-ending pain they endured.

It didn't last long though. 

As her eyes trailed up to his face after round two of their lovemaking, Felicity blinked back the haze that came over her as realization dawned upon her. She had no idea how she had not noticed before, but around his bare neck, rested the necklace holding the ring she longed to have again but known she couldn't have. Walls building back up in the speed of light as she remembered why they weren't together anymore, she sat up, crushing his hopes shining in his eyes with the truth.

She felt bad, but after all, he hadn't answered her. And they were both suffering from it.

Her with the memories at the loft, him with the memories the ring gave them.

* * *

**03.**

 

It was months later when she saw the ring again. Of all three times she had seen the jewelry after she gave it back to him, the third time had been the hardest for her. And for him as well. 

The team was in a good place. After their one-night they made sure they were never alone again. Curtis was always there and not long after they made love on the training mats, they recruited new members. Evelyn, Rory and Rene. With 6 people crowding the bunker, including the both of them, it was impossible for them to fall for Curtis' tricks again.

They fought, they talked but as time went on, they were drifting more and more apart.

She started dating an officer she met at her favorite coffee shop, a little before they had their new team members to make sure she had a reason to stay away from Oliver. Felicity was aware that was the worst way to head into a relationship especially not even a year after they called off the engagement, but she couldn't stop herself from saying no to Billy when he asked her out. 

Felicity knew the relationship would not go anywhere, she knew she was using him and he deserved better but she couldn't let go off the little normalcy and peace he brought to her crushed heart and mind. Problems were bubbling up below the surface ready to blow up, but he was a good distraction. And she was clinging to the image of illusion he had created for her. 

The thought that made cracks in the blind walls and see she was only using him to heal a little, was the fact that she kept him a secret. No one knew she was dating him. Not Thea, not Curtis, not Diggle, not the new recruits or the media and definitely not Oliver. She just couldn't tell him and step on his heart again. In her mind, she was cruel, but even she wasn't that cruel.

As Oliver returned to killing and they slowly but surely became strangers again, Felicity couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't ready to take the final step in her new relationship and sleep with her boyfriend. He had stayed over on more than one occasions, they had made out several times but for the love of all, she always stopped them before things escalated. She knew Billy's patience was wearing thin but she couldn't help it. Her heart and body was calling for another person.

Two months after she got together with him and much to her surprise, Oliver showed up late at night on their,  _her_ , balcony. She was wrapped in her favorite green blanket, the one she had used ever since their break up, with slightly puffy eyes the newest nightmare of Havenrock gave her. Then he just dropped the news on her like it was nothing, like it didn't matter to him she was seeing someone. It stung her more than she could admit. 

_"I'm totally fine that you are seeing someone. But I'm hurt you didn't tell me."_

Felicity wasn't certain what she wanted to hear, but the words escaping his mouth were not the ones she was expecting. She didn't want him to be fine that she was seeing someone. She wanted him to be bothered. To call her out on it. To tell her he would fight for her. To tell her he would explain everything. Back then, she wasn't ready to have that kind of conversation, but now as he stood on the balcony they used to love so much, the exchanged words feeling like farewell to their relationship, she felt ready. Only, Oliver had different thoughts. So, she went along with him, telling him she didn't want to tell him until she was sure it was real.

_"Is it real?"_

He asked with a tremor in his voice she wasn't supposed to the detect, her chest heavy, tears burning the back of her eyes. 

For a second she looked downward, the intensity of his gaze suffocating her as the air around them stiffened, the questions and the possible outcomes shaking around them and reaching her core. She was ready to give a lie as her answer when her eyes caught the edge of the engagement ring peeking out under the jacket he wore and everything stilled inside her, the memories of the two of them and the future she envisioned in her dreams mingling in front of her like a tv show on repeat. 

Past.

His belated birthday celebration. The nights under the stars in Bali. The romantic nights they threw that ended with sex. Oliver baking and cooking for them. Their engagement. 

And future.

Walking down the aisle toward him. Honeymooning in Bali. Celebrating his victory as he became mayor. Carrying their child under her heart with love. Growing stronger and wiser with him.

Her body knew the answer.

Her heart knew the answer.

Her soul knew the answer.

What the two of them had together was  _real_.

Her mind didn't know the answer though.

And Felicity learned not to listen to her heart when it came to him the hard way.

_"I don't know."_

That night for the first time after months, Felicity cried and sobbed for the two of them. She mourned and grieved, uncaring of the new cracks she had in her heart and the seemingly never-ending pain in her chest, or the way it became a little harder to breathe in the following days.

* * *

**04.**

 

The next time she didn't see but touch the ring after long and tiring months passed. Billy was dead. Oliver dated a reporter then broke up with her. She joined Helix. They were almost blown up. On top of that, the later had her paralyzed again and they were trapped in the lair with no way in and no way out. They were also running out of air, so really, the odds weren't in their favors.

The team was looking for a way to have them rescued, but so far, with no luck. 

With only the two of them down, they argued, fought and discussed plans. Oliver at the end didn't listen to her warning and fell from the elevator shaft, leaving him injured and bleeding which led back to their core argument. 

Trust.

Felicity voiced he didn't trust her while he said the opposite but if nothing else came out of their newest mini quarrel at least Oliver agreed to try things her way. As she stitched him up, she couldn't help but smile, even if not only ten minutes later she regretted suggesting her idea. The damaged pipe full of toxic gas wasn't in her plans.

Oliver got himself injured while she halved their remaining time. They made quite the team.

When he fished out a climbing gear and they got lower to flee from the gas flooding the bunker, Felicity couldn't contain her panic any longer. Especially when Oliver suddenly collapsed and she watched helplessly as he slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind. With her holding onto him like a little monkey and climbing down a rope, he must have tore his stitches.

Somehow, she got herself to him, as bells rang in her brain in warning at his closed eyes and hot, sweaty skin. She slapped his cheeks a tad to get him to focus at her and she had to bite back an actual cry when his tired voice filled her ears. In that moment she would have given anything to save him. She wasn't over him and he wasn't over her and as seconds passed and more and more blood left his body, she couldn't help but regret all the time they wasted without each other.

_"Tell me something I don't know."_

She asked desperately, clinging onto his shoulder, while her other hand caressed his wet cheek, gaze solely on him. Each struggle of breathing between words felt like punches to her bruised heart, and before she could stop it, a tear escaped her eyes, the realization hitting her with a buckle of ice water. He was going to die. If they didn't get any help in the next ten minutes he would bleed out before her and he would be lost to her forever.

_"I'm so sorry."_

The slurred words set her panic higher, knowing he was also aware this might be his final chance to say what he denied for months. A cry stuck in her throat, his features exhausted, his body singing its final song to hers while he spoke, breaking her heart all over again. 

_"I might not have a later."_

He voiced, and she bit back a determined answer, denying the upcoming minutes she dreaded, her soul not accepting the fact he might die. He couldn't. Not after everything they have been through. Not after finally growing closer again. They had so much more to fight for, he couldn't leave like that!

Oliver spoke, his words wavering, his voice fading, explaining why he did what he did, lighting the way to understanding. He couldn't die, he couldn't.

_"It's not about not trusting you, I will always trust you. I don't trust myself."_

She saw the tear trickling down his dirty skin, his eyes closing, breaths becoming more shallow as time ticked by over his head. She searched his face, slapping his cheeks again, waiting to see his blue irises that did not reveal themselves to her. His name escaped her lips with a sob multiple times and her head fell down to his chest in defeat, cries and small denials fleeting her mouth as sorrow spread in her veins.

If he didn't make it, she didn't want to as well.

She didn't want to live in a world where he no longer lived. Not again. Never again. Once was enough.

Turning her head sideways to catch the sound of his heart beating lightly but steadily, she felt a little hardness under her temple, knowing what it was without checking.

The ring.

He had been wearing it ever since she gave it back to him.

Her body, mind, and heart cried for him to come back, to not leave her alone, her soul calling his to hold on and not let her go. To never let her go. Adjusting her head on him, she clenched the ring through the shirt he wore, resting her cheek over his heart to hear its lullaby, the temptation to join him getting stronger and stronger.

She was going to wear that ring again and he was going to be one to slide it onto its place. Felicity told herself over and over as sleep overtook her tremoring insides, and unconsciousness filled her brain.

Felicity didn't let go of him. Not even after he woke up.

* * *

**+1.**

 

The next time she saw the ring, Felicity made sure Oliver put it where it belonged. Back on her finger.

For a while, she wasn't sure they would survive. They were growing closer and closer, dating hypothetically, as he said during his birthday party, but as they should have learned it a long time ago, villains never held themselves back. 

In this case, it meant Chase returned and kidnapped them. She knew it was a bad idea to leave Oliver alone but she was only certain when she and Diggle woke up on the hard ground of Lian Yu. Chase had them all. Everyone from the team, people he cared about and William with his mother.

Her heart sank when she heard the name of his son.

Oliver being Oliver, rescued them from the cages Chase set them up in and before they had to part so he could save his son, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him, telling him she had enough regrets about the two of them. He smiled at her sadly, embracing her in a tight hug as a goodbye then he was on his way to get his son to safety. 

The moment of reunion was over too quickly. She couldn't swallow the sour taste on her tongue when she thought of what might be happening to him. The times they spoke through the comms were tiny and in between fights. In the meantime, Felicity felt like she failed. While he had brought her tablet, she couldn't disable the bombs Chase hid around the island.

And when time ran out, Lian you blew up.

She and Diggle were the only two running from the explosions as they had stayed behind to diffuse the bombs whilst the others hid in the ARGUS basement. Her lungs were burning, both from smoke and over using, her leg muscles screaming, her ears ringing from the loud noises but they weren't safe yet. She pushed all her remaining energy, sprinting as fast as her feet carried her, the ache in her back starting low and growing painful. 

Curtis hadn't had the time to fix everything with the chip in her spine and now he might never be able to do that.

The next explosion happened a few meters to her left and Felicity landed on her knees, the raw rocks and pieces of wood drawing blood on her palms as fire enveloped the trees next to her. Only few seconds before the next bomb would go off. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, she pushed up, feeling two strong hands helping her.

Looking there, she saw Digg with a huge gash on his head, telling her to not give up and go. Without getting any words out, they were running again, the trees finally fading as the beach of the island came into view. Then, when all hopes were up, the final bomb went out next to them, knocking her to the ground, her head hitting the rocky ground.

She lost consciousness before she could spot where her friend and brother was.

As it turned out, she was in coma for one week. The blow she took to her head was bigger than she thought near the ocean and her body needed rest and time to heal. The doctors at the ARGUS facility said, it was a miracle she didn't lose her memories. After an hour of examination, they let visitors see her and the first person after her mother was Oliver.

They hugged for minutes, both crying from the fear of losing each other and relief, shivers rocking their bodies. Oliver took it harder than her and even after she managed to calm down, he was still shedding tears. She had never seen him cry this much. He told her how afraid he had been when they were searching the island and she and Digg weren't with the rest of the team, how scared he was she might never wake up or wake up but not remember him. When he pulled back, he placed a soft kiss on each of her knuckles, staring into her eyes with wonder and happiness. 

For the first time after a long year, she smiled full-heartedly, the joy she felt radiating from her skin. 

They had survived.

Chase was gone.

Eyes finding the small curve of the chain around his neck, hiding something that belonged to her, she pulled him closer by grabbing the necklace, lips meeting his for a slow kiss that warmed her heart and soul. Trailing her fingers where the clasp was, she broke the small kiss to get the ring off from the chain, searching his gaze for reactions. 

_"Are you sure?"_

He asked with a small curve of his lips, as she placed the ring in his palm. Flashing a smile, she replied, speaking the words she had always felt but known she wasn't ready to say and truly mean before.

_"I have never been more sure."_

A year passed with more adventures and obstacles they would have guessed when she gave back the ring, but after such long months, they finally found their way back to each other. Because they were meant to be. The two of them:

Forever and always.

For better, for worse.


End file.
